++The 3rd edition of Youth Hacking 4 Freedom (YH4F) has officially +concluded, celebrating the impressive talents of young European +developers. Two of the participants in the 2024 edition are sharing +insights about their projects and experiences: Vinícius developed an +automatic telescope while Simon worked on bringing Free Software on the +SHC devices. +
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++The Youth Hacking 4 Freedom contest is a +competition organised by the Free Software Foundation Europe that +encourages young Europeans to work on a personal technical project. +After six months of programming, the competition successfully ended last +October with an inspiring award ceremony weekend. This unique +programming competition is more than just a contest: it's an opportunity +for young talents to showcase their creativity, learn new skills, and +contribute to their community. +
+ ++Vinícius automated the process of star tracking showcasing, ability to +upcycle devices with his +Automatic Telescope, whereas Simon created a project with SHC +devices because of the freedom of choosing his own project. In this +interview, we will learn more about them and their projects with +different approaches but similar spirit! +
+ ++FSFE: Hi Vinícius! Hi Simon! First of all, +congratulations to both of you for your participation in the third +edition of YH4F! Could you please briefly introduce yourselves and tell +us what you like to do before we delve into your projects? +
++Vinícius: My name is Vinícius Carrijo Tambascia and I’m +17 years old. I was born in Brazil and moved to Sweden at the age of 10. +My hobbies are looking at the stars with the telescope, playing tennis +and skateboard when the weather is good, and also to make projects with +software and hardware. +
++Simon: My name is Simon. I am 15 years old living in +Germany. My hobbies are swimming and programming. +
++FSFE: What was your first experience with programming +and how did you start learning it? Was it with Free Software? +
++Simon: I started to learn programming during COVID, +when I bought myself a Raspberry Pi 4 and began experimenting with Arch Linux ARM. For me, Free +Software was there from the beginning. I tried to compile obscure +programs that only met one requirement, but by fixing bugs and reading +their code, I gained a lot of experience and knowledge about programming +
++Vinícius: My first experience with programming was with +a Free Software website called Scratch. Scratch allows you to make games +and animations using blocks as code. It’s relatively easy to use and it +teaches the concept of programming. +
+FSFE: How and why did you decide to join YH4F? What do you like the most about the contest?
++Vinícius: I first heard about this competition from my +parents' friends. I got interested in this competition because I never +did anything like this before and I also wanted to challenge my skills +to see what I could learn and achieve. +
++Simon: I joined YH4F last year because it was the only +competition in which you could do whatever you want, and it was also one +of the few competitions where younger people could participate. +
++FSFE: Vinícius, how did you come up with your project +idea? What motivated you to do your project? +
++Vinícius: A month before joining this competition, I +got a small telescope from my grandparents. I started using it a lot but +I did have issues trying to point at a star that wasn’t visible to the +naked eye. I knew this problem would be solved with an automatic +telescope but they are much more expensive. Therefore I thought I could +make my own automatic telescope for this competition. Before coming to +this final idea, I had thought of many other options such as games, +automatic watering systems for plants, and remote control planes. +
++FSFE: Vinícius, is astronomy a long-standing passion of +yours or did the project stem from your interest in coding? +
++Vinícius: I always had a certain level of interest in +astronomy but it wasn’t a long standing passion. The telescope helped me +to gain even more interest in astronomy. +
++FSFE: Simon, what inspired your project idea? What was +the motivation behind choosing this particular project? +
++Simon: I received these devices from a relative, who +switched to a different smart home system after the shutdown of the the +one they were using. So I tried to get them up and running in offline +mode but the encryption keys, used for pairing and communicating with +the end devices, were not saved from the previous owner. +
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++FSFE: Your project emphasises freedom for users. In +which specific ways do you think Free Software can empower users when +integrated into SHC devices? +
++Simon: The main goal of my project is to get end +devices to use an open standard for communicating. Additionally, I want +to release all software that I write for them so that if I lose interest +or they break, other people can try to fix any issues/bugs still present +in the software. +
++FSFE: What were the main problems or challenges that +you both encountered during the programming phase? +
++Vinícius: I had problems throughout the whole process +of making the project. I started by making the hardware and the +mechanical part of the telescope. I spent a lot of time coming up with +ideas on how to move the telescope and all of my original ideas didn’t +work. Halfway through the competition I managed to move the telescope up +and down by itself using a system that involved a rope and a motor. The +next part was to make the telescope move horizontally by itself, however +this part was much more challenging. I tried so many different ways but +nothing worked until the end of May. By then I actually had a telescope +with all the mechanics and hardware working but the problem was that I +had less than a month for the actual coding period. Time management was +a big problem here because I spent a lot of time on the building phase +and little on the programming one. During the programming phase, I +didn’t know how I was going to do it. I wanted to connect the Arduino +[board] to astronomy software (like Google Maps but for stars) to get +the live coordinates of the star you want to track, however I simply +didn't know how to do that. I tried but got nowhere. Instead I came up +with an idea to track the stars using a bunch of mathematical equations +that model +the trajectory of the stars. +
++Simon: Mainly, learning how Linux works under the hood, +especially building my own "OS" using build-root, was a significant +challenge. Another big problem was that missing documentation for the +hardware, which meant that I had to figure out all connections to other +peripherals on my own. +
+FSFE: Did you work on your project alone?
+Simon: Yes, I worked on it alone.
++Vinícius: I did work on my project alone but I had some +help. My school helped me with the project by allowing me to use their +3D printer machine. I could have not done the project without a 3D +printer. I also had some indirect help from my parents' friends as we +discussed ideas for building the telescope. +
++FSFE: As far as we understood, Vinícius, you have +developed software to follow the movement of the stars in the sky. How +did you do that? +
++Vinícius: I tracked the path of the start by coming up +with equations that could model the star based on its current position. +The path of the star around the sky is mainly caused by the Earth's +rotation around its axis and the sun. This is only true for the stars +very far away unlike the planets in our solar system. +
++FSFE: This sounds like a lot of work. We are truly +amazed by the effort you put into your project Vinícius. +
++Simon, your project includes both software and mechanical components. +What were the main challenges in making sure the software and hardware +work together? +
++Simon: The biggest challenge is figuring out how the +hardware is connected with one another and then adjusting the software +to fit the hardware. +
++FSFE: How has participating in YH4F and working on +these projects affected you personally? What have you learned about +yourself through this experience? +
++Vinícius: Working on this project has helped me to +develop my coding skills, but most importantly it has shown me that I +can do more complicated projects than I originally thought. At the +beginning of the project, I doubted myself that I could do something so +advanced, but in the end, I realised that anything is possible with a +lot of dedication and effort. Nothing goes according to plan, but we can +still go around it and reach the goal. +
++Simon: I discovered that there are many people like me +that love to tinker with electronics and software. +
++FSFE: Do you think you will continue working on your +project and what would be some next steps you would like to take? Are +you planning to improve the documentation so that more people can reuse +your projects? +
++Simon: I will definitely continue to work on this +project, but I will probably stop developing the Linux port because the +hardware in the central devices is very slow and has no real use any +more. However, the next step will be to design custom PCBs for the end +devices and use ESP32s to create a replacement board that uses Zigbee, an open standard, instead of the +closed standard they have used so far. Another reason for switching to +Zigbee is that I recently switched to Zigbee for my home automation and +don't want multiple different communication standards that may not work +after 10 years. I will definitely document the process for developing +the new PCBs and also share other information I still have for the +central devices. +
++FSFE: And last but not least, is there any kind of +advice that you would like to tell new Youth Hacking 4 Freedom +participants? +
++Vinícius: Time management is very important. If you're +thinking of making a project that involves hardware, then make sure that +the building period doesn’t take all of your time because the main focus +of this competition is the software. I believe I could have made better +software if I had spent less time on the building part and more on the +programming part. +
++Simon: I think you should always just try to do your +best. Even if you don't win, you will still make friends and have fun in +the process. +
++FSFE: Thank you Vinícius and Simon. We wish you the +best of luck with your future plans and a lot of success with your +projects! +
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